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Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed attempts to divide the country along “North-South lines”, the Tamil Nadu government brought in two resolutions in the Assembly opposing the scheduled delimitation of poll constituencies in 2026 and the Centre’s measures for ‘One Nation One Election’.
The resolutions, which said the two moves went “against the basis of democracy”, were “impractical”, and “not enshrined in the Constitution”, were passed by the Assembly with overwhelming support, including from the opposition AIADMK.
The BJP too said it understood the concerns regarding delimitation expressed in the resolution, thought it opposed the one on ‘One Nation, One Election’.
The resolution against delimitation said the exercise due in 2026, following the new Census, “not be carried out”. “Due to unavoidable reasons, if the number of (Lok Sabha and Assembly) seats on the basis of population were to (change), (they) shall be maintained at the present ratio for constituencies within states and for both Houses of Parliament, (which were) fixed based on the population of 1971.”
China moves its nationals into its vacant defence villages along LAC (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Chinese nationals have started occupying several of their model “Xiaokang” border defence villages across India’s north-eastern borders which the country has been building along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since 2019.
Senior officials familiar with the matter said the Chinese, in the last few months, have started occupying a couple of these villages built on its side of the LAC across from Lohit Valley and the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.
China has been constructing 628 such “well-off villages” along India’s borders with the Tibet Autonomous Region, including along Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh for over five years now.
While the exact nature of these villages is unclear, the dwellings are understood to be “dual-use infrastructure” — for both civil and military purposes — and seen as a Chinese assertion of its territorial claims along the LAC. They have thus remained a concern for the military.
Govt & Politics
Wheat MSP exceeds farmers production cost plus 50% demand: data (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
In at least two big states Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, farmers will receive a price higher than what they have been long demanding for wheat — i.e., C2 plus 50 per cent, where C2 is the cost of production and is equal to the “paid out cost plus imputed value of family labour plus rental value of owned land and interest on fixed capital”.
The two states together account for almost 35 per cent of India’s wheat production and contributed over 70 per cent to the total procurement done for the central pool in the rabi marketing season (2023-24).
Data compiled from the reports of the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) — an expert body set up by the government that recommends Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for agriculture products based on input costs — shows that the MSP for wheat — Rs 2,275 per quintal — fixed by the Centre for Rabi Marketing Season 2024-25 is higher than C2 plus 50 per cent, as demanded by farmers.
The CACP, however, recommends the MSP based on the formula A2+FL, and the government eventually declares the same; here A2 includes only paid out costs incurred by the farmers. A2+FL is equal to “Paid out cost plus imputed value of family labour” and this is lower compared with C2.
Editorial
The new echo system (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Students of performing arts, appearing for their examination, are attacked mid-way. The university apparently asks the head of the department to go to the police station and file a complaint. The police arrest the complainant and other victims of the attack.
A public meeting intending to criticise the ruling party is announced. The office bearers of the ruling party openly issue a threat.
The police, instead of acting against those issuing the threat, ask the speaker to not attend the meeting. Subsequently, an attack on the speaker’s vehicle takes place. Those issuing the threat remain unfettered.
These two “stories” could well fit into a dystopian novel or a Kafkaesque movie sequence. But it so happens that they actually unfolded in an Indian city. And there are many such stories happening across the country.
It might seem so on the surface, but scratch it and one will find that the police are themselves converted to a new way of thinking:
That nobody should dare to do anything off-beat, that there should be self-censorship and that if the ruling party does not want a public meeting to take place, that wish should be respected.
With elections round the corner, these two and similar stories also tell us something sinister: Even during the election campaign, it will be easy to ensure that the Opposition is not allowed to hold meetings.
Grounds will be made unavailable, threats will be issued, a law and order situation will be created, and any criticism of leaders of the ruling party will be construed as hurting some sentiment somewhere.
Ideas Page
If Fathpur Sikri can (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
As my wheelchair was unloaded from the car at Fatehpur Sikri, a monument dating back to the 16th century AD, a familiar uncertainty crept in: Would I have access to it and the ability to accompany my family and other tourists?
My scepticism was justified, as even places advertised as accessible in our country often present various hurdles to the disabled community — from bathrooms without grab bars for support, to ramps with slopes so steep that handling a wheelchair without considerable help becomes impossible.
The international standard for a ramp slope — 1:12 height-to-length ratio — is consistently overlooked. My brother valiantly offered to demonstrate how to climb a steep ramp safely in my motorised wheelchair at our hotel. In the process, the wheelchair tipped backwards, resulting in his head hitting the unforgiving stone floor.
World
Shehbaz set to become Pakistan PM as 6 parties strike deal on unity govt (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of former premier Nawaz Sharif, is expected to become Pakistan’s next prime minister as a post-poll alliance of leading political parties led by them struck a deal to form a coalition government after last week’s elections produced a split mandate.
The surprise move means the party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan will not be in power, despite independent candidates backed by his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) winning the maximum number of seats in Parliament in the February 8 elections marred by allegations of rigging.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) night nominated 72-year-old Shehbaz as the prime ministerial candidate instead of the party supremo and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif.
The 74-year-old veteran politician, who was seeking a record fourth term as prime minister, returned to Pakistan in October last year after ending a self-imposed exile in the UK.
Economy
India faces WTO pressure on farm subsidies amid protest for MSP (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The government’s headroom to accede to the protesting farmers demand for a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) is somewhat limited given India is under pressure on its farm subsidies at the World Trade Organization (WTO), with the latest attack by an influential group of 19 agri exporting countries.
To attain greater flexibility to offer farm support, India is in the process of pushing for a permanent solution at the upcoming inter-ministerial summit at Abu Dhabi from February 26 to 29 but a deadlock over the politically charged issues between developed and developing countries is unlikely to see a resolution.
The Cairns Group – comprising Australia, Brazil and Canada among others members — have claimed that India’s public stockholding (PSH) programme is highly subsidised and the farm support that India gives is “distorting” global food prices and “hurting” food security of other countries.
Panagariya chairs first meeting of 16th Finance commission (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The 16th Finance Commission (XVI-FC) held its first meeting under the Chairmanship of Arvind Panagariya here.
During the meeting, the commission discussed its Terms of Reference, as per the order by the President of India and notified by the Ministry of Finance on December 31, 2023.
The distribution between the Union and states of the net proceeds of taxes, which are to be, or may be, divided between them under Chapter I, Part XII of the Constitution and the allocation between states of the respective shares of such proceeds, are among the Terms of Reference (ToR) approved by the Cabinet.
Another ToR is about the principles governing the grants-in-aid of the revenues of states out of the Consolidated Fund of India and the sums to be paid to states by way of grants-in-aid of their revenues.
It will also suggest measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of panchayats and municipalities, as per the ToR.
Explained
The blurring lines between makers of GenAI software, Hardware (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Nvidia Corporation, the undisputed king of advanced chips that are now driving artificial intelligence (AI) applications, is releasing a new tool that lets owners of its latest series graphic cards run an AI-powered chatbot offline on a Windows PC.
The tool, called ‘Chat with RTX’, will allow users to customise a generative AI (GenAI) model on the lines of OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Bard by linking it to files, documents, and notes that they can then query.
Nvidia’s chatbot push comes at a time when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is seeking trillions of dollars in investments to revamp the global semiconductor industry.
Altman, who is behind the startup that launched ChatGPT, the fastest-growing consumer software application in history, has repeatedly voiced concern over the supply-and-demand problem with AI chips which.
BAPS temple inaugurated by PM Modi in abu dhabi : features, significance (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
During his two-day visit to UAE, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the BAPS Swaminarayan temple in Abu Dhabi, the first Hindu temple in the Gulf nation.
The inauguration of the 108-ft high temple marks a significant moment for the Hindu community in UAE, as well as for the two countries’ bilateral ties.
The temple has been built by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a denomination of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, a Vaishnav sect of Hinduism.
BAPS has a network of around 1,550 temples across the world, including the Akshardham temples in New Delhi and Gandhinagar, and Swaminarayan temples in London, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Nairobi.
A BAPS spokesperson said Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the tenth spiritual guru and head of the sect, on April 5, 1997 had envisioned a Hindu temple in the desert sands of Abu Dhabi which could bring countries, communities and cultures together.
The Indian diaspora is almost 3.3-million strong in UAE, a huge percentage of the country’s population. Of these, some 150 to 200 families are BAPS Swaminarayan devotees.